


A Tale of 'I love Yous'

by Akiko_Natsuko



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enduring love, F/M, Friendship/Love, Loss, Love, Promises, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-12 16:31:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17471039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: Erza had always loved Jellal, from the very moment he had first taken her hair in his hands and boldly given her a surname. It was a love that had endured through everything and was reciprocated, even though he was the last to say the words.





	A Tale of 'I love Yous'

 

   Erza had always loved Jellal, from the very moment he had first taken her hair in his hands and boldly given her a surname. It was a love that had endured even when he had turned against her, banishing her from the island and binding her to silence with the threat of what he could do to Sho and the others. It had burned in her heart even as she faced him once more as a teenager, stronger than she had been back then and with friends…no, family by her side. And she had grieved for him when he disappeared along with the Etherion, her heart in pieces at the thought that she had lost him without ever having the chance to tell him how she loved him.

    Naively she had thought that feeling had ended with him, but then she found him again, and her heart had hammered in her chest as her hair was the first thing that called to him. As he had looked at her with the eyes of the boy she had first fallen for, albeit shadowed with grief and guilt. It had hurt when she had let him go again, but she had known that it was necessary, and just the knowledge that he was out there alive was enough to ease her heart. While it was the guild that had given her the strength to win against Azuma, she knew that his voice had been there as well. His strength joining with hers and although she tried to tell herself it was just her imagination, she fell in love just a little bit more.

    _Seven years_ , they had been gone for seven years, and yet the moment she set eyes on him and learnt that he was out there trying to atone for his past, it was as though no time had passed at all, and she fell in love with him all over again. However, it wasn’t until after the events of the Grand Magic Games and the Dragon invasion that she finally said the words aloud. Going after him when he tried to slip away in the aftermath and pulling him aside into an alley, her arms tight around him even as he stood stiffly in her embrace. There was longing in his eyes, but she knew that he wasn’t yet ready to forgive himself or believe that they could have a future, but she wanted him to know that there was hope.

“I love you,” she said softly, not wanting anyone else to hear. Her friends knew where her heart lay, but those three words were meant just for his ears. They always had been. Gathering her courage, she lent up and pressed her lips to his, it wasn’t deep or passionate, just a gentle promise and she smiled at the conflicted expression on his face when she pulled back, laying a finger on his lips to silence whatever protests he might be about to try and make. “I know you can’t say it back yet, but I need you to hear the words.”

    They had parted ways after that. There had been no promises made, and Jellal had not returned her words, but she knew that one day he would and for now that was enough.

*

   The next time had been a surprise, she had quite literally bumped into him on her first solo job in a long time, and for a moment it had looked as though he was going to flee. She had been faster though, gently convincing him to come for a drink with her at least and the same longing was there in his eyes when he hesitantly agreed.  It was their first date. At least that was what she told herself, even though she knew that it wasn’t really. They exchanged stories, and she comforted him as best she could when he told her in faltering tones that Ultear was gone. There was a brief flicker of jealousy, but she could see that he was grieving for family and not a lover and she sternly buried the green-eyed monster, wrapping him up in a hug despite his weak protests.

   Their time together was brief, just a couple of hours before he rose to leave, but he hesitated as he did so and Erza immediately grasped why. Smiling she rose to her feet, pulling him into another hug and letting her head rest against his chest so that she could hear the way his heart pounded in his chest. No matter what lies his face might tell, his heart was brutally honest, and she had pressed a kiss above his heart before looking up at him.

“I love you, and I’m still waiting.” _I’ll always be waiting,_ she left unspoken, not wanting to add to his burden but she knew from the way his arms had tightened around her that he had understood, and she hadn’t protested when he’d pulled back jerkily and disappeared without a word. _I’ll wait for you Jellal, for as long as I have to._

_*_

    The third time she had uttered those words had been in the aftermath of Tartaros. She was still reeling from everything that had happened, her emotions in tatters and her body slowly recovering and she had feared that she would lose herself because of it. It had been his voice…his words…that had pulled her back from the memories when they were threatening to consume her, and she hadn’t been able to let him walk past just like that. Even to this day she couldn’t remember moving to follow him, she had only realised what she had done when her hand had snagged the back of his cloak, a wordless sob welling up before she could stop it. This time he had been the one to turn to her, pulling her into a hug and wrapping his cloak around her as a shield against the world.

   He didn’t offer her false platitudes or try to tell her that it was going to be easy. But his faith in her strength took her breath away, and it was all she needed to slowly calm herself down, his heart beating softly against her ear helping. The selfish part of her had wanted him to stay. To cling to him and use his strength as her own, but she knew that she needed to find a path forward on her and that he still had his own path to follow. However, it was much harder than she wanted to admit to pull away this time, and when their lips met this time there was more than a hint of desperation of both sides, and tears had glittered in her eyes as they stepped away from one another.

“I love you…”

*

   The fourth time was when she was still recovering from her battle against the Historias. She was alone in the room, her teammates heading back to Fairy Tail and as much as she wanted to join them, she knew that she was in no state to fight, and if she was honest with herself to shaken. It had been easier in the heat of the moment to face down her past opponents and send them fleeing regardless of how injured she had been, but now alone in the room she found herself dwelling on both the past and that battle, her hands clenching in the covers. She had been so lost in her memories that it had taken her a few minutes to realise that she was no longer alone, looking up to find him in the doorway, studying her with an unreadable expression and she had immediately felt like she could breathe again.

   It had been awkward, neither of them really knowing what to say. Kagura had filled her in on the part that she had missed, and she could see the new darkness in his eyes, and she had no words to express how much it meant to know that he had sinned for her sake, well aware that he feared making his crimes worse than they already were. They made small talk, not even daring to delve into the topic of the war because it would dredge up other darker topics. It was awkward, but in a way, it was nice…nice to just sit there and a talk, with no battle raging around them and nothing to tear them apart, but of course it couldn’t last, and she hadn’t protested when he had risen a couple of hours later. Instead, she had caught his hand as he moved, pressing her lips to the back of it and offering him a weak smile.

“I love you…”

“I know…” Jellal had surprised her by catching taking her hand, hesitating for a moment before he kissed it softly and there was pain in his eyes as he met her wide-eyed gaze. “I can’t say it back yet though…”

“I know,” she reassured him with a smile, managing to appear calm on the outside even though inside her heart was racing. He had said ‘yet’ which meant that eventually there might be an end to her waiting, and her smile was warmer as she added softly. “I’ll wait, just don’t forget those words…”

*

    The fifth time those words were spoken, it was Jellal that said them, his voice hoarse from screaming and tears streaking down his cheeks as he cradled Erza against him. There was no pounding heart when he pressed his ear to her chest, no warm smile and whispered promises, just a peaceful expression that had no place on the battlefield and the crimson hair that had brought them together splayed across his arm.

“I love you…”

_You were supposed to wait for me…_


End file.
